Overconfident
Around half an hour later, Arielle arrived at the branch.
It was located in a restaurant district that had a long history.
When she arrived, it was only half-past seven. Most of the restaurants still had their blinds down.
Maureen’s Kitchen was the only restaurant that was bustling.
Seeing her, Glenn and the manager came forward to welcome her.
“Ms. Moore!”
Glenn twiddled his thumbs nervously and reported, “You’re here! The preparations are almost done,
and all that’s left is the ingredients. As per your command, we ordered ten times the usual amount. The
refrigerator is too full to put our ravioli inside, so I told someone to get the refrigerator from the old
store.”
“Good job,” Arielle responded with a nod.
“It’s nothing.” He waved his hands and said excitedly, “You agreed to give me some shares, so I won’t
feel tired even if I have to work for three days straight.”
On the contrary, the manager wore a hesitant look on his face.
That had her cast him a puzzled look. “What is it? Do you have something to tell me?”
The manager balled his fists as he said, “Ms. Moore, I don’t know whether I should say this…”
“Just say it!”
Nodding, the manager answered, “We usually buy the ingredients we need every morning to get the
freshest ones. Today is the first day the branch is open for business, but you told us to buy ten times
the portion of ingredients that we usually need. I think that’s a waste, especially the soy products that
will definitely spoil the next day.”
As the manager mentioned the ingredients, Glenn chimed in carefully, “Ms. Moore, I do think that
buying ten times than usual is too much… Should we go with five times first? This store is only twice as
big as our old store. If there aren’t many customers, we wouldn’t be able to finish using the ingredients.
That will be a waste. Should we ask the buyer to purchase fewer ingredients?”
Arielle was silent for a few seconds before explaining, “I understand your concerns, but I still think that
buying ten times the ingredients we usually need is vital. I believe we can get more customers by
offering food samples at the door. We should be able to finish the ingredients.”
As she seemed confident, Glenn and the manager could not object anymore. “Why don’t you head in
and take a look around? You haven’t been here since the renovation was completed.”
Arielle bobbed her head and entered the restaurant.
The manager could not resist the urge to whisper to Glen. “Do you think she’s overconfident? Our food
might be delicious, but today’s a weekday. There will be fewer customers than usual. Besides, we
specialize in local cuisine, so our customers will usually come during lunch and dinner.”
The latter nodded in acknowledgment. “Indeed, she seems a little overconfident. Never mind if we were
to waste the ingredients; I’m only afraid her confidence will be shattered. After all, she’s a young lady. If
she loses her confidence, will she shut the restaurant?”
Ever since he received the shares of the new restaurant, he had been throwing himself into the
renovation of the shop lot, supervising the renovation after hours and buying the stuff needed for the
interior design personally.
His heart would break if the restaurant were to close down after all the hard work he had put in.
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